Concentration: Taking online classes, while answering text messages on the phone, and using one earphone to listen to podcasts. It is easy for us to have the illusion that we are good at multi-tasking, feeling good about being such “experts in time management”. “It takes three hours for people to do three things one by one. Look! I can do three things in one hour.” But if someone gives you a blank piece of paper, asking you to write out the content of the online class, the podcast, and the text message conversation… you will find that you can write out nothing, and everything is blank. Time is spent, but it is all in vain and nothing is achieved. This is the biggest problem with multitasking. The situation is like when children’s homework gets erased by their little siblings: Pointless to even scream. When we do any daily tasks, including doing homework, attending classes, talking to others, eating meals, and walking together, we must concentrate on it, so that we gain something. In addition, concentration actually requires brain power. Whenever our minds want to wander, we should hold on with a little effort. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. Our concentration is developed in this way. The situation is like lifting dumbbells every day to exercise your muscles. I hope everyone can become a weight lifter of concentration.
Precision: You have to complete a writing assignment or a math worksheet within a limited time. As you want to do well, it’s easy to get impatient, especially when your brain starts to get tired and your concentration decreases. This moment you might fall into a pinch: writing in a hurry, making many mistakes, and wasting time correcting those mistakes. This is not only infuriating but also time-consuming. Haste makes waste! (Confucius was not wrong) The goal is to do homework efficiently, but the question is, how? Remind yourself to be precise. Use the good habits mentioned before, including focusing on your breathing to calm your mind, and then concentrate on it. Form a picture in your mind: it is as simple as writing a Chinese character. You must have this Chinese character in your mind in high resolution. With each stroke you write, you should be like a majestic archer, concentrate and aim accurately. Seek precision first, and then seek to increase speed after everything is on track.
Continuity: A 150-word essay can be completed in 30 minutes by concentrating on it in class, and then you can have fun in the gym. But in the past year, during online classes at home, it is easy to fall into a trap: writing two lines, leaving your seat for 5 minutes of social media, then returning to your seat for two more lines. As a result, the 150-word essay that could be completed in 30 minutes in school could not be completed in 3 hours at home. To think that after finishing the work, you could go biking with your dad, but in the end you were forced to cancel because you couldn’t complete your homework… Why is it so important to finish it in one go? Because when doing homework, especially writing, it is very necessary to construct ideas in the mind. Once the ideas are interrupted, it is impossible to write smoothly. As a result, writing every sentence, and even every word, becomes difficult. The famous Pomodoro Technique recommends that we divide the work into 25-minute pieces, with a 5-minute break in between. After completing four or five pieces, take a longer break. 25 minutes of working time to ensure smooth completion without interruption. This will not only improve your efficiency but also help you practice your concentration.
Written by: Dr. William Chui
Originally posted on: Hong Kong Association For AD/HD FB
Translated by: Cheuk Long Chan
